George gitstave



(No Model.)

G. GUSTAVB. HIGH EXPLOSIVE PROJEGTILE.

No. 574,061. Patented Dec. 29, 1896 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE GUS'IAVE, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOEDGAR S. JOSEPH, OF SAME PLACE.

HIGH-EXPLOSIVE P'ROJECTILE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 574,061, dated December29, 1896.

Application filed December 11, 1894. Serial No. 531,446. (No model.)

To aZZ 1071,0111, it may concern:

Be it known that LGEORGE GUSTAVE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in High-ExplosiveShells, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the construction of shells which are designed tocontain large quantities of high-explosive materials and are adapted tobe shot from a gun and exploded at a distance from the point from whichthey are shot either by concussion or by a timefuse.

The object of my invention is to provide a strong shell, very simple ofconstruction, comparatively very cheap to manufacture and easy toassemble, and which may be more easily loaded than former shells, andwhich, when loaded, can be handled without danger, and is speciallyadapted to be provided with the explosive charge and with fulminating orexplosive cap just before the shell is inserted into the gun, therebymaking it perfectly safe to handle the shell previous to the time offiring.

My invention embraces a high-explosive shell comprising an integralmetal body provided with explosive-containing chambers extendingtherethrough from end to end and with two screwthreaded axiallyarrangedspindles or necks which project, respectively, from the opposite ends ofthe body, and with a detonatin g charge-containing axial bore extendingforward from the rear end of the rear neck, a conical head screwed uponthe front neck, and a base-cap screwed upon the rear neck.

It also comprises other features of construction hereinafter describedand claimed.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention.

Figure l is a perspective front view of my improved shell. A portion ofthe shell is broken away to disclose the position of the chamberscontaining the explosive material, &c. Fig. 2 is a longitudinalmid-section of my improved shell. Fig. 3 is a plan View of the top ofthe integral casing, showing the arrangement of the explosive-containingcham- Fig. 4 is a loers with relation to the neck E.

sectional View of a charge of nitroglycerin prepared for use in myimproved shell.

For safety I divide the charge of explosives into small charges andprovide each separate charge with a suitable elastic packing between theexplosive and the metal of the easing within which the explosive iscontained, and thereby avoid any possibility of exploding the charges byany shock which may be caused by discharging the shell from the gun.This I do not claim.

In the drawings, A iepresents an integral metalbody which is providedwith a series or a plurality of chambers a. which are each provided witha lining B, of felt or other suitable elastic packing. The chambers aare arranged longitudinal the casing. The elastic packings B B arearranged at the lower and upper ends thereof, respectively, when thecharges are in position, between their ends and the ends of the chamberswhen closed. The high explosi e O is arranged in the chambers, and eachcharge is entirely surrounded by elastic packing, so that the explosiveis at no place in contact with the metal wall of the chamber.

Suitable closures for the ends of the chambers a are provided. As shownin the drawings, the body A is provided at its front and rear ends,respectively, with axially-arranged screw-threaded projecting spindlesor necks E and E, which are comparatively small in diameter, while theindependent compartments are arranged in one or more circles around theaxis of the body. Lead packings D D are arranged, respectively, upon therear and front ends of the casing and surrounding the necks E E,respectively. A conical head F, provided with a nose I, is screwed uponthe front neck E and presses upon the lead packing D, thus to form atight closure for the front end of the chambers a. The basecap F isscrewed upon the rear neck E and presses upon the lead packing D andforms a solid base for the shell and produces a perfect closure for therear ends of the chambers a.

In order to avoid the liability of the impulse of the explosion withinthe gun being so excessively violent and sudden in its operation as todetonate the charge of high explosive in ICO the shell, I providesuitable elastic packing G, arranged upon the base of the shell toreceive the impact of the explosive which propels the shell. This is notclaimed as new.

II is a forwardly-tapering bore forming a central compartment arrangedwithin the shell and extending from the rear end of the rear neck to thefront end of the front neck. In this compartment is placed thedetonating charge or explosive II, which detonates the charge of highexplosive. This explosive may consist of ordinary powder, or offulminate of mercury, or any other explosive deemed desirable, and uponthe nose I of the head is secured a fulminate cap I, which is designedto be exploded by the force of the projectile striking against theobject at which it is aimed. This cap communicates by means of thepassage J with the explosive II in the chamber II, thus to detonate thehigh explosive.

The front tapering portion of the bore leaves the front or impact neck Ealmost solid and consequently strong. It also prevents the blowing outof the detonating charge forwardly, so that the detonating charge willact upon the high explosive with certainty.

In case it is deemed advisable to provide means for exploding the shellother than the fuhninate cap I a fuse is shown in Fig. 2, arranged atthe base of the shell, and is designed to be ignited by the explosion ofthe charge which propels the shell and to cause the explosion thereof iffrom any cause the fulminate cap fails to ignite the detonating charge.

Vhen nitroglycerin is used, Iprovide tubes M, Fig. l, of lead or othersuitable material, iilled with wool or cotton N, saturated with theexplosive, and arrange these tubes in the elastically-lined compartmentu. The wool or cotton gives an elasticity to the charge of explosivewhich overcomes the effect of the inertia and prevents it fromdetonating by the impulse of the charge which propels the shell.

13y casting the bod yintegral with the screwthreaded spindles or necksprojecting therefrom, as shown, I am enabled to rigidly ati tach thehead and base to the casing more easily and quickly than withotherconstructions to form a shell which is, when assembled, practicallya unit and made of only three pieces. Owing to the very simpleconstruction and the small diameter of the only screws employed, theshell can be assembled very quickly and with but little expenditure offorce to screw the parts home, so that the work can be readily done onthe field, thereby allowing the explosive material to be car riedseparately from the shell until near the time when it is desired to usethe same, and thereby insuring that the explosive material is notdamaged or in'poor condition.

The fulminate cap I, which is designed to explode by the concussion ofthe striking of the shell, and thereby explode the detonating chargewithin the central compartment, may be quickly adjusted upon the neckjustbefore the shell is inserted into the gun to be fired, and when theshell is uncapped the mouth of the neck may be covered by a blank cap,which will insure perfect safety in the handling of the shell whilebeing taken from the magazine to the gun.

Now, having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-- The high-explosive shell set forthcomprising an integral metal body provided with explosive-containingchambers extending therethrough from end to end and with the twoscrew-threaded axially-arranged spindles or necks E E, of comparativelysmall diameter, which project, respectively, from the opposite ends ofthe body beyond the ends of the explosive-containing chambers, and witha f0rwardly-tapering detonating-charge-containing axial bore extendingfrom the rear end of the rear neck to the front end of the front neckthe conical head provided with the nose for the fulminating-cap andscrewed upon the front neck; and the base-cap screwed upon the rearneck.

GEORGE GUSTAVE.

\Vit-nesses:

JAMES R. TOWNSEND, ALFRED l. TOWNSEND.

